Francis North, 4th Earl of Guilford

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{{short description|British peer, Army officer, and playwright}}

File:Portrait of Francis North, 4th Earl of Guilford (1761-1817) (by Ramsay Richard Reinagle).jpg]]

Francis North, 4th Earl of Guilford (25 December 1761 – 11 January 1817), styled The Honourable Francis North until 1802, was a British peer, Army officer, and playwright.

North was the second son of Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford and his wife Anne. On 8 July 1777, he was commissioned an ensign in the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot.{{London Gazette|issue=11785|page=2|date=5 July 1777}} On 27 January 1778, he became a cornet in the 2nd Dragoons,{{London Gazette|issue=11843|page=2|date=24 January 1778}} and in December 1778{{cite book | last=Doyle | first=James William Edmund | authorlink=James William Edmund Doyle | title=The Official Baronage of England, v. 2 | place=London | publisher=Longmans, Green | year=1886 | page=90 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFpmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA90}} or May 1779{{cite book | first=Edward | last=Almack | title=The History of the Second Dragoons: The Scots Greys | place=London | year=1908 | page=230 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Il8sAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA230}} was promoted lieutenant in the 2nd Dragoon Guards. On 29 April 1780, he became a captain in the 96th Regiment of Foot.{{London Gazette|issue=12078|page=4|date=25 April 1780}}

Capt. North was appointed aide-de-camp in extraordinary to Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, the new Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, on 30 December 1780,{{London Gazette|issue=12150|page=2|date=2 January 1781}} a post he held for the duration of Carlisle's tenure in office. On 9 April 1781, he exchanged into the 49th Regiment of Foot.{{London Gazette|issue=12180|page=1|date=17 April 1781}} On 22 April 1783, he was promoted major in the 83rd Regiment of Foot, which regiment, however, was disbanded the following year.{{London Gazette|issue=12433|page=1|date=9 April 1783}}

North was also a playwright, and his drama, The Kentish Baron, was produced at the Haymarket in 1791 and deemed a success. On 9 September 1794, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.{{London Gazette|issue=13701|page=905|date=6 September 1794}} He was appointed lieutenant of Dover Castle in 1795 and captain of Deal Castle in 1799, succeeding his elder brother George North, 3rd Earl of Guilford in 1802. On 5 May 1803, he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Kent.

He married Maria Boycott on 19 July 1810, but had no children by her. Upon his death in 1817 in Pisa, he was succeeded in the earldom by his brother, Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford.